End Half-Measures! Talk to your Councilor

Just a reminder to talk to your City Councilor if you haven't already!

(Here's the City's Bike and Walk Salem site. For three years of notes on the bike plan update, see here.)

Funding Processes to Change; Local Politics and Demand Essential

Tomorrow some folks are going to go up to Portland to start talking about statewide transportation funding for 2013.

Join Transportation for Oregon's Future for a discussion and information session about opportunities to fund walking, biking and transit at the state level. This discussion is to introduce funding opportunities, ask questions, and share priorities. Lynn Peterson, Governor Kitzhaber's advisor on Sustainable Communities and Transportation, will be joining us to discuss opportunities for transportation funding in 2013, and to hear from us about our transportation priorities and values.

Hopefully we'll get a report when people get back!

In the meantime, change is beginning to percolate locally.

Grant Neighborhood to Discuss Parking in August

Parking. It's a big issue for neighborhoods and August brings lots of parking talk to the Grant Neighborhood.

On Thursday, August 2nd at 6:15 p.m. in the Outdoor Amphitheater at Broadway Commons, the Grant Neighborhood Association meets and will be talking about the proposed parking lot at Maynard's and the North Broadway Parking Study.

The high level problem is that we are mucking around asking about how to manage car storage instead of asking how to increase personal mobility and customers while also reducing the number of car trips and concomitant car storage.

Bike to Bite and Brew

There's something about the summery, cotton-candy pleasure of the carnival and side-show.

Though this might look a bit like a Dantesque entry to the "rat race," the food, beer, and music will be lively. (And your bike's a secret weapon against the rat race!)

But WAR??? - Salem ought to be able to do better music than that!

For DIY music, don't forget about the pianos! If you're out this morning, B on B is on the Bridge.

What are your bikey delights this sunny weekend?

Update Sunday Morning

Here's the bike parking Saturday around 5pm. It's right next to the entry on Court Street, but it's also not formally attended this year. There's not enough temporary racking, as you can see from the bikes locked to the fence.

You might be better off locking up downtown and walking a couple of blocks.

Breakfast on Bikes with Piano this Friday!

It's almost the last Friday, and that means Breakfast on Bikes!

Friday, July 27th, we'll be on the Union Street Railroad Bridge from 7am to 9am with free coffee, pastries, and fruit for you.

Please support our generous sponsors!
Cascade Baking Company
Governor's Cup Coffee Roasters
LifeSource Natural Foods
Salem Bicycle Club
Willamette University.

In a special bonus, it looks like the street pianos will still be there - so whether it's Chopin or Chopsticks, bring your funnest music!

Photo of and by Hettwer Family

Here's a clip from some folks on a bike ride!



We'll also have new bike maps and information about the Public Hearing on August 13th at Salem City Council for the Bike and Walk Salem plan.


View Larger Map

Enjoy Art - by Bike!

There's a nice piece on public art in the paper today. And there's no better way to notice and enjoy the art than by being on bike or on foot!

And for a bit yet, through the 29th, the pianos are still around town. Here one adds life to the concrete plaza of the sculpture garden at the Convention Center.

Salem River Crossing Memo on Bike Connectivity Potentially Misleads Task Force

One of the things about the Salem River Crossing process that is troublesome is its opacity cloaked in public process. Time and time again people who should know have said off the record that very few really want this thing, that outside of a few individuals they don't know where the real drive for it is coming from. And yet the process has sufficient inertia that folks don't seem to be able to stop it.

A small example of this is an informal memo that as it gets cited and its citations in turn cited, seems to be wrapped up increasingly in official status.

At the Open Houses in May, there was a poster for illustration purposes that wasn't formally part of the draft Environmental Impact Statement. It was labeled at the bottom "The above evaluation is not part of the DEIS for the Salem River Crossing Project, but is provided for informational purposes and is subject to future modification."